thinking about breeding rats and mice.

Ok so I would really like to buy a pair of rats, and a pair of mice to start breeding. I don't want too large of a project, this is just hopefully enough to feed 5 snakes. Any tips would be great!

****Bump****

OOOOOk, tough crowd. (crickets in back ground)

Is there any mouse and rat general care and breeding care sheets that you guys could link me to? Any info would be much appreciated.

A pair of each isn't really going to provide you with much. My girls produce a litter roughly every 12 weeks. They get 3 weeks in with a male, 3.5 weeks to raise babies, and 3 weeks vacation before going back in with a male. So with only a pair of rats, you will only get one litter of 4-14 babies every 12 weeks. ...ish.

With mice, you get litters a bit more often, but its still not often enough to make you self sufficient. I have 12 snakes and four breeding adult females. I am not producing even close to enough.

As far as care, make sure they have a good size enclosure or rack system. I use cat litter pans for my rack and 10 and 20 gallon tanks as enclosures for my rats. Mice go in 5g and 10g tanks. Fresh water, rat food (good stuff, Use Becky's Mix and lab block) good bedding (I use wood pellet bedding and a layer of aspen on top) and chew toys. I also give them occasional fruit and veggies.

With the enclosures, I keep no more than 1 rat to a 10g (unless they are weans, and then 3 until they get too large). I keep no more than 4 to a 20g long tank. In the rack, no more than 3 to a tub. With mice, I keep 4-5 per 10g. 3-4 per 5g.

I wrote this a while ago. Hope it answers some questions...

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=69076

It is best to have a female a snake! So depending on the nmber you have that is how many rats you need. Wow Connie great link!

thanks for all the great info! this will really help. I got 20 feeders yesterday for like $47! :O it is getting ridiculous. some how, i think this will save me money because about every 3 or 4 weeks I am spending that kind of money. (some of my snakes eat more than one rodent at a time.) So I think if I just buy a crap load of food and bedding etc, and get all the setups. I will be set for like 6 months free of charge. (that is saying I plan a head for this properly) thanks again for all the info!

Wow 20 feeders for $47. Thats a great deal! I spent $30 on 7 wean rats, 1 mouse, and a mouse hopper. And its a 20-30 min drive to and from the store. Breeding my own feeders is a necessity at this point.

I really like Connie's write up, which should really apply to me since i have 4 snakes, but some of those costs are different for me*, so the conclusion (it's still cheaper to buy F/T from a .com) is not as clear for me.

*I can't get feeders locally that cheap and due to the size feeders I need, they are still more expensive from the .com (go go feeding a burm). Also I didn't see the inclusion of gas to drive to buy local feeders, but I may have missed that. =)

I do breed both mice and rats and I think I make out ahead, but I also really enjoy doing it, so bonus hobby activity. =)

My weekly feeding requirement is: 1 smallish rat, 1 med/large rat, 2/3 jumbo rats, 2 adult mice.

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Originally Posted by pythontricker

(some of my snakes eat more than one rodent at a time.)

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So what are your exact weekly requirements? =)

I have 1 male rat 5 females & Im over run with rats ! freezing them when they get a little big. I have 11 snakes but as with ball pythons some don't eat each week,rats grow way to fast.had 52 last month & already got 23 down this month Im holding back some females now so they don'e all go at once.

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Originally Posted by cassandra

I really like Connie's write up, which should really apply to me since i have 4 snakes, but some of those costs are different for me*, so the conclusion (it's still cheaper to buy F/T from a .com) is not as clear for me.

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My little write up is for one snake that eats ft.

If you do happen to have more than one snake, breeding your 2 females more often is going to be saving you more money than buying online because your still PAYING the same amount to keep those 4 rats, your just getting more out of them. Make sense? :)

Pretty much, when you raise your own feeders, your looking at how much it costs to raise each adult breeder rat compared to how many feeders you get from that animal, and how that compares to the amount you'd be spending to buy online.

So it does come out differently, and I think in the end, it saves you more money the more production you get out of each rat.

I think it's just figuring out that balance where your getting the most out of your feeders that holds people up from making the leap to producing their own. That and the initial costs to build the rack or make the tubs and buying the breeders.

I personally feel it takes a downword turn to raise and feed live, there it gets tricky because if you dont have animals that take FT or prekilled or large rats, your wasting money and rats as they grow too large too quickly.

Figuring how many to breed takes a little practice. If you know other reptile lovers you might make some extra money by selling off over flow or giving them away.

One other thing that you my want to consider, pythontricker, is the smell. Mice and Rats are really stinky.

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Originally Posted by marmie

Figuring how many to breed takes a little practice. If you know other reptile lovers you might make some extra money by selling off over flow or giving them away.

One other thing that you my want to consider, pythontricker, is the smell. Mice and Rats are really stinky.

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Yeah, thats what a lot of people are telling me. I am keeping them in my garage.

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Originally Posted by pythontricker

Yeah, thats what a lot of people are telling me. I am keeping them in my garage.

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I have no idea where you live, but if it gets hot make sure you have alot of fans on them! They slow breeding down when it gets hot. Rats don't smell if you keep them on pelleted bedding and clean them weekly! Oh, and alittle vanilla never hurt!

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Originally Posted by cassandra

So what are your exact weekly requirements? =)

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06 Male Normal BP; One small or medium rat
07 Female Albino BP; One small rat
07 Male Spider BP; One adult mouse (Switching over to small rat soon)
08 Female Pastel BP; Two hoppers
08 Unknown sex, Sorong GTP; Two pinkies

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Originally Posted by stangs13

I have no idea where you live, but if it gets hot make sure you have alot of fans on them! They slow breeding down when it gets hot. Rats don't smell if you keep them on pelleted bedding and clean them weekly! Oh, and alittle vanilla never hurt!

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Yeah the hottest it has ever gotten here is 90. I live down by the beach in San Diego CA. I will be sure to have a little floor fan that I can just pug into the wall, and set it towards them. Vanilla? what do I do with that?

You add the vanilla to the water. It apparently helps reduce the smell of their urine. I don't use it. I keep my rats and mice on wood pellet bedding I get from a supply store for $7 and then put a layer of aspen over that. I have virtually no smell unless I let the cages go for more than a week without a cleaning.

that sounds good I will be sure to do that! anything to reduce the smell is good. and the rodents will like the taste of the water a little better!

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=62980

That pretty much sums up how I do it.

thanks that looks really great! I am just going to have like four tubs though.

Do you need anything for the mice and rats to play with? like those wheels or little climbing things?

I have never personally tried the vanilla with the rats, but word of advice, if you put too much vanilla in the water, and it turns color, it tastes HORRIBLE (bitter and ickky).

You'd have more of a chance of deterring the rats from drinking the water which concentrates their urine (stinky) and leaves them dehydrated.

I would just start out not using vanilla, especially if your keeping them in the garage. Put a fan on them for when it's hot out, and just change them every week. If you really cannot stand the smell, (which I personally dont smell anymore! LOL), then try out with a couple of drops of vanilla in a bottle of water and go from there. I hear immitation works the best, real vanilla is too alcoholic tasting and expensive.

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

I have never personally tried the vanilla with the rats, but word of advice, if you put too much vanilla in the water, and it turns color, it tastes HORRIBLE (bitter and ickky).

You'd have more of a chance of deterring the rats from drinking the water which concentrates their urine (stinky) and leaves them dehydrated.

I would just start out not using vanilla, especially if your keeping them in the garage. Put a fan on them for when it's hot out, and just change them every week. If you really cannot stand the smell, (which I personally dont smell anymore! LOL), then try out with a couple of drops of vanilla in a bottle of water and go from there. I hear immitation works the best, real vanilla is too alcoholic tasting and expensive.

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Ok that sounds good! hopefully I will get some rats and mice from petco within the next 2 or 3 weeks or so. Maybe even sooner. thanks for all the info!

Oh, just one more thing, how long do rats and mice live for?

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Originally Posted by pythontricker

Ok that sounds good! hopefully I will get some rats and mice from petco within the next 2 or 3 weeks or so. Maybe even sooner. thanks for all the info!

Oh, just one more thing, how long do rats and mice live for?

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I know rats can live for 2-3 years. 2 is generally the number, but some have lived for 4 and even 5 years.

wow thats short. thanks for all the great info!